Hurt your feelings or upset your plans.
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Put your nose out of joint
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My folks used "collary wobbles" to mean stomach upset, as in, e.g., "If you eat all that fresh fruit (several apples, pears, oranges, etc.), you get the collary wobbles." I am 89…
In the USA, I once heard a slang noun obviously derived from "harum-scarum": "hurmer-skurmer", meaning a reckless man.
I learned over 50 years ago in school that "beyond the pale" referred to the "line" or boundary the Roman army set up between British and Scottish regions at the time of…
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From the Phrase Finder Digest
- Four Christmas Phrases Everyone Repeats Have A Documented Paper Trail
Shops start playing carols and stacking tins of biscuits weeks before December even arrives, which makes Christmas the longest-running seasonal hook of the year. The phrases that travel with it, from a bishop's 1534 letter to a 1977 political jibe, have a better paper trail than most people assume.
21 October 2026
- Old Soldiers Never Die: The Song Behind The Saying
Remembrance Sunday brings out a handful of phrases we repeat without thinking about where they came from. Two are older than any war fought in living memory, and one has a history most people get wrong.
14 October 2026
Based on Google Books usage over the last ~25 years. Refreshes each build.
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- MeaningBeer and sandwiches at Number 10A phrase describing informal, behind-closed-doors talks between a government and trade union leaders at 10 Downing Street, used to settle a dispute quietly rather than through public negotiation.
- MeaningGet on like a house on fireTo become friends very quickly and enjoy each other's company enormously.
- MeaningTalk a good gameTo speak confidently and persuasively about one's abilities or intentions without actually backing it up with results.
- MeaningYou can't tell a book by looking at its coverIt means you cannot judge the true nature, quality or character of someone or something just by its outward appearance.
- MeaningClothes maketh the manThe way a person dresses shapes how others judge their character, status or worth.
- MeaningDo birdTo serve a prison sentence.
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Phrases.org.uk has been documenting the meaning and origin of phrases, sayings and idioms since 1997. Every entry is researched and written by Gary Martin, with citations to the earliest printed use we can find.
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